Cold, damp and carbon monoxide poisoned rented flat. How can I go about solving this?

Danger HighVoltage

Hi Everyone,
I moved into a flat this past August with my partner, it is an older flat – but prior to moving in the landlord promised that he would get it scrubbed up and in great condition.
Among a few issues (with I will include later in the post), the house is very damp – as in the bedsheets are damp when getting into bed and clothes are damp when getting dressed in the morning. I have purchased so many dehumidifying packets and about 10 are scattered around the three-roomed flat (bathroom, bedroom and sitting room/’kitchen’).
This dampness would be problematic alone – but this past week the landlord finally installed a stove for heating. He installed it himself – with the help of a man who also lives on the plot of land who appears to do maintenance in exchange for rent. Clearly, it was installed incorrectly as last night it was finished being installed and when it was lit it filled the flat with smoke – causing our carbon monoxide and smoke alarm (which he made us purchase ourselves) to go off.
I am very concerned about carbon monoxide poisoning as a family member passed away due to it a few years ago. I tried explaining the severity of the issue – but he continuously dismissed my worries and even went as far as to say that the stove was ‘romantic’ (meanwhile our home and all our belongings are coated and smelling strongly of smoke!). He has said he will try to fix this problem – but he really wasn’t taking the situation seriously and told me that he “had enough of listening to me”.
I’m not sure how I can get out of this one year lease. I am a broke PhD student – surviving on a small stipend I get from a science foundation. I cannot afford to lose my 500 euro deposit.
Other issues with the property which I am not as worried about but have found from research online that they are minimal standards – the landlord would not provide smoke alarm or fire blanket, no BER energy rating, no 4 ring hob, extractor fan or oven, inadequate ventilation and a lack of a safe heating source. He has also been in our apartment a number of times while we are out at university/work - when he has carelessly moved my laptop and hard drives which have years of research on.

In summary, I really just want to know what my rights are as a renter and how I can deal with this difficult landlord.
I appreciate any advice anyone could give.

Boater123

Hi, sorry for your troubles. Plenty of people here will give advice re getting things sorted in the apartment. Some will be of good advice, some not so good. What steps to take, what bodies to talk to. I'll let them do that.

I just wanted to say that when certain brand new stoves are fitted (and I'm not saying that this was fitted correctly) there is a coating like a polish that has to be burned off. This sometimes creates smoke and sets off alarms.

This should improve quickly, that's if it was installed correctly

Best of luck with it all.

Special Circumstances

Boater123 wrote: »

Hi, sorry for your troubles. Plenty of people here will give advice re getting things sorted in the apartment. Some will be of good advice, some not so good. What steps to take, what bodies to talk to. I'll let them do that.

I just wanted to say that when certain brand new stoves are fitted (and I'm not saying that this was fitted correctly) there is a coating like a polish that has to be burned off. This sometimes creates smoke and sets off alarms.

This should improve quickly, that's if it was installed correctly

Best of luck with it all.

Ammmm the carbon monoxide alarm is going off. This is not burnt toast. This is not a "shur maybe you're over reacting, give it a while to run in" kinda situation.

Danger HighVoltage

Thanks for the reply Boater123, I really appreciate it.
Quite possibly this is the issue, I hope so anyway.
The stove was smoking for about an hour and filled the entire flat with thick smoke and set off the alarm many times during the night.
It just doesn't seem right to me, but then again I don't have a huge amount of experience with stoves - especially new stoves.

Thank you.

Danger HighVoltage

Special Circumstances, it is indeed very serious.
The most concerning part of this to me is the dismissal from the landlord and the fact that he has many properties for rental across Limerick.
To disregard such an issue is disgraceful in my eyes.

howdoyouknow

Boater123 wrote:

I just wanted to say that when certain brand new stoves are fitted (and I'm not saying that this was fitted correctly) there is a coating like a polish that has to be burned off. This sometimes creates smoke and sets off alarms.

This is correct. First few burning will produce a smoke from the paint coating.

Claw Hammer

Send your landlord a letter by recorded post outlining the problems. After the letter, send another after 14 days. In any event contact the environmental section of your local authority. Explain the problem and request an inspection. Finally open a dispute with the RTB.

Boater123

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Ammmm the carbon monoxide alarm is going off. This is not burnt toast. This is not a "shur maybe you're over reacting, give it a while to run in" kinda situation.

Who said it was?